1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to managing website registrations, and in particular, to a computer implemented method for monitoring and removing underutilized registrations of website accounts.
2. Description of Related Art
A user browsing the internet often encounters a website which requires the user to register an account with that website. This registration may allow the user to obtain additional services, access to information, or other benefits of such registration. Usually such registration requires a userid (user identifier), a password and an email address. The userid may be assigned by the website or may be selected by the user. The userid typically needs to be unique to that website, so the user may need to try several userids before generating one that is unique.
The password may be selected by the user, although different websites may have different requirements for password strength for security purposes. Sometimes the website may initially specify a password in an email to the user. The user then uses that password to initially login to the website and then specifies a new password meeting the password requirements of that website. As a result, the email address is verified for that user. Other methods of verifying email addresses include sending an email with a link for the user to click which sends a signal to the website. The email address is provided by the user to the website for several purposes. As described above, it may be used to verify the user. The website may also use the email address for providing emails relating to the website such as billing information or informational purposes. The email address may also be used by the website as a unique identifier of the user. In addition, the user website may be used to reset the password of the user should the user forget the password or the userid for that website.
Over a period of time, the user may register with many different websites, many of which have different userids, passwords, and email addresses for that user. As a result, users have difficulty remembering all this information for each website. Some browser providers and other software providers now provide a password vault for storing this information securely on the user's system.